This invention is directed generally to mounting systems for mounting tire assemblies on tire testing and correcting apparatus and more particularly to an adapter which is adjustable to mount different tire assemblies on the drive spindle of tire testing and correcting apparatus.
It is frequently necessary to mount tire assemblies including a pneumatic tire mounted on a vehicular wheel rim on the drive spindle of tire testing and correcting apparatus. Examples of such tire testing and correcting apparatus are wheel balancers and force variation tire grinding machines such as disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 201,526. In order to properly test and correct a tire assembly with testing and correcting apparatus, it is necessary to locate the tire assembly on the drive spindle of the apparatus so that the effective rotational axis of the tire assembly coincides with the rotational axis of the drive spindle on the testing and correcting apparatus. The tire assemblies are typically located on the drive spindle of the testing and correcting apparatus using either the central opening through the wheel rim or by using the lug holes through the wheel rim. Most of the prior art adapters for mounting tire assemblies on the drive spindles of these testing and correcting apparatus require that the tire assembly be mounted on the adapter while the adapter is mounted on the drive spindle of the testing and correcting apparatus. This makes it difficult to easily and expeditiously mount the tire assembly.
Mounting adapters using the lug holes in the wheel rim to locate the tire assembly need to be able to compensate for different lug hole circle diameters encountered on different tire assemblies as well as be able to accommodate the different number of lug holes in different wheel rims. Some attempts have been made to accommodate these variances in lug hole circle diameters and number of lug holes as is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,238. The adapter illustrated in that patent seeks to provide a means by which the tire assembly can be located on the adapter while the adapter is removed from the drive spindle of the testing and correcting machine. To compensate for different lug hole circle diameters and different numbers of lug holes in the tire assembly, a series of holes are provided in a mounting plate through which support pins are inserted to locate the wheel rim. One of the major problems with the adapter illustrated in that patent is that it is difficult and time consuming to align the lug holes in the wheel rim with the correct holes in the mounting plate to insure that the effective axis of rotation of the tire assembly coincides with the axis of the mounting plate.